Hope Ablaze by Sarah Mughal Rana
This young adult book is an intense raw unflinching read, containing incarceration, assault, politics, Islamophobia, immigrant pressure, and loss throughout the 384 pages that mix poetry and traditional writing. At times the book is incredibly hard to put down as the commentary on two party politics and Muslims in America is articulated in a way that transcends the fictional constrains and affirms reality. But unfortunately, it took me a long time to complete the book, because when I did put it down, I didn’t feel that relentless urge to pick it up and see what happens next. I had been alerted to the fact that there were elements of magical realism, but even with that knowledge, I still felt it misplaced, and truthfully, unnecessary. The pacing was inconsistent, and many points unnecessarily forced. It often felt the author was simply trying too hard to tell the story and make sure the reader got all the messages intended. As a result many characters are flat, many plot holes exist, and the reader is left wishing things were done just a little bit different to make the book what it could have been, not what it is. I know it is a debut, so I’m not going to be overly detailed in my harshness, I am fairly positive I will read anything this author writes down the road, I took pictures and shared passages that I loved on my socials. The book is good, it just really could have been great.
SYNOPSIS:
Nida is a poet, her uncle is a poet, and her uncle is in prison. When Nida is frisked, her hijab removed by a political candidate’s team as she makes salat in a public park, Nida is forced to find her words, her voice, and her place in an unkind Islamophobic world. High school friendships, immigrant Muslim community pressures and idiosyncrasies persist for Nida as she navigates media manipulation, injustice, slander, and political talking points. Life was already complicated with her father’s departure, her maternal uncle’s wrongful incarceration, and the goats that her mother brings home to sacrifice, but with the support of the Poet’s Block, her Muslim community, family, and the thread tied to her family through generations, she will find she isn’t alone, and she has support, she just has to take a stand.
WHY I LIKE IT:
I love how much mirrors contemporary reality, the MIST competition, the politics, the media, the dirtiness of it all. I also like that it has a fair amount of humor, the Islamic accuracy, friends getting called out for boys and girls texting each other. Overall though, it just felt so forced. I think some subtly and nuance and undercurrents would have given the reader the ability to connect the dots for themselves, so the book would have lingered and taken up space long after the last page was read. It is hard to write a book about how great a writer is, how powerful poems are, so at times it really felt spoon fed that this is powerful, here read it, see it was powerful. Additionally, I think when the author did try for subtlety, it just came across as lacking. I still don’t fully understand any of the side characters, their relationships, or their purpose. From the betrayal of a school friend, to the new friend from MIST, to the little brother, to the friend and his uncle who is imprisoned, there ultimately lacked a lot of emotional heart for minor characters, who remained stagnant, while passionately emphasizing issues at their expense.
The OWN voice Islamic rep is so spot on even if the evil eye passages seemed amplified and repetitive. Islam is centered, it is unapologetic, it is the characters identity, comfort, and soul. Only one point really stood out as erroneous, but I read a digital ARC so it could have been fixed or it could have been a spacing issue since it was in a poem, but it has sajood in janazah, and I’m really hoping the final book will not have it wrong, as there is no sajood in janazah.
FLAGS:
Assault, frisking, incarceration, death, profanity (not a lot, damn, hell, shit), Islamophobia, racism, systemic abuse, lying, talk of terrorism, stereotypes, gaslighting.
TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
I’m on the fence about using this book for a book club read. I love the Pakistani culture, the Islam, the contemporary relevance, and the political commentary. I think it would have actually more success in a guided or required reading situation with teens than it would as a pleasure read. Undoubtedly I will order a copy to put on my library shelf, but I might test it out a bit on a few readers to see how their thoughts before I present it as a book club selection or not.
